Beecher football team comes of age in playoffs with blowout victory over Flint Hamady for first-ever district title

Beecher High School's Jawuan Taylor evades a tackle from Hamady's Tyree Watson during their game in Flint, Mich. on Friday, November 2, 2012. (Griffin Moores | MLive.com)

Beecher High School quarterback Marcus Wright winds up to make a pass. (Griffin Moores | MLive.com)

Standing on the beds of pickup trucks Beecher fans watch their team play against Hamady in Flint, Mich. on Friday, November 2, 2012. (Griffin Moores | MLive.com)

BEECHER, MI – At times, Beecher’s football team looked shaky and discombobulated this season.

They endured a three-game losing streak at one point and barely qualified for the playoffs with five wins.

However, Buccaneers head coach Courtney Hawkins stayed patient with his young roster. His diligence has pushed the squad to accomplish a feat that no other football has ever done in the “District of Champions.”

Beecher captured the program’s first-ever district championship with a 42-7 blowout victory over Flint Hamady on Friday at Russ Reynolds Field.

“We are starting five true freshmen and it just took time for them to adjust to this ball because it’s a huge jump from middle school to playing on Friday nights,” Hawkins said. “They’ve figured it out, they’re playing as teammates and they’re reaping the rewards right now.”

In what was expected to be a competitive matchup quickly emerged into Beecher’s most lopsided victory of the season. With a team full of underclassmen – mostly freshmen and sophomores -- Hawkins and the Bucs have turned around what seemed like a rebuilding year into the best run in school history.

“I’m a big believer in not saying the word rebuilding and I said that we were reloading because I think rebuilding is kind of giving everybody the opportunity to say that if we lose than he told us,” Hawkins said. “When we started the season out I started with the mindset that we were going to go 9-0 and when we lost one we said it’s going to be 8-1 so some things have fell our way and the kids are playing hard and it’s been a good year so far.”

At halftime, Beecher led 35-0. They maintained a 35-point edge for the entire second half which resulted in a running clock in their favor.

Bucs sophomore Raumello Cooper appeared as the unlikely star of the game calling his performance the best of his career afterwards. Cooper finished with five carries for 98 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

“The coaches just told us that we had to get the (district) championship so that was on my mind and I knew we would have to fight for it,” Cooper said. “I didn’t think it was going to be a blowout victory but I knew in my heart that we would win.”

Cooper scored an 80-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter. He also returned an interception for a pick six play and recovered a blocked kick for another touchdown to close out the first half.

“He played lights out today,” Hawkins said of Cooper. “He scored on special teams, defense, and offense. He’s got a lot of potential as a 10th grader and I look forward to coaching him for a couple of more years and watching him get better.”

Raumello’s older cousin Eric Cooper was Beecher’s top receiver with five catches for 43 yards. Eric caught an eight-yard catch from Bucs quarterback Marcus Wright early in the second quarter for a touchdown, too. As one of the veteran’s on Beecher’s team, Eric was proud of his team’s development throughout the season.

“We went through a little adversity after losing three games in a row but we came to practice working hard every day and we got better along the way,” Eric said. “I’ve been on these guys every day about working hard because the harder we work in practice the harder we will work in games so I’ve just been drilling that to them to work hard.”

Wright completed 5 of 13 attempts for 43 yards. He also scored a rushing touchdown and threw two interceptions.

Erick Layton led Hamady with 146 passing yards and 43 rushing yards. Layton was 8-16 on his attempts.

Jomontae Wheeler scored Hamady’s only touchdown with 1:09 remaining in the third off a 71-yard pass from Layton. Wheeler caught five receptions for 120 yards.

“They outhustled us,” Hawks coach Gary Lee said of Beecher. “Our kids have come a long way and it’s a growing process. These guys have been in the playoffs the last few years and this is our first year and it’s going to get better.”